When you're new to sewing, you usually start with cotton fabric, and for good reasons. As well as there being a huge range of colours and prints, it washes and wears well, and it's easy to sew with. Cotton holds its shape and it's not slinky, so it doesn't slither about when you sew it. You can stick pins in it whenever you like without ruining it. If things go wrong, which they do for all of us sometimes, you can unpick it and try again. ... Read the Post...
Autumn Embroidery Hoop Design
At the moment I have rather a lot of unfinished projects. There's the flower dress I've started. Most of the bits are cut out, and I want to get them all cut out otherwise I'll forget and then I'll be an a hopeless muddle when I go back to it. I have fabric for another dress I haven't made, a ripple blanket I'm crocheting, plus the bit of my course I've officially finished but actually haven't, and the next bit that I've started. This ... Read the Post...
Why Do We Feel Sad When Someone We Didn’t Know Dies?
On Thursday 8th September, Her Majesty the Queen passed away peacefully at Balmoral. She had been Queen for 70 years, making her the UK's longest reigning monarch. Her reign was even longer than that of Queen Victoria's, which lasted for 63 years. Lots of people have been affected by her death. When I heard the news, my thoughts were, "Well, she was an old lady," closely followed by, "She must have missed Prince Phillip dreadfully. At least ... Read the Post...
Things to Do in September
In some ways, September feels more like the beginning of a new year than January does. Lots of years of school and university, then being a teacher, and now having school aged children makes it hard to escape the squeaky new shoes feeling that September has. My older three boys all went back to school this week. My eldest is now at 6th form and the middle ones are at the secondary school round the corner. It feels odd after the summer ... Read the Post...
